Railbus: A time saver for Ulaanbaatar

Trans. by G.UCHRAL

For the 65th anniversary of Ulaanbaatar Railway, many projects have begun and some of them have already been fulfilled. The railbus is one of these projects and its fundamental purpose is to save citizens time and reduce traffic jams in Ulaanbaatar. Ulaanbaatar Railway bought two PA-2 railbuses from Transmach Holding in Russia. One of these railbuses started operating on the 7th of June, on a special schedule.
The railbus has 136 seats and is able to transport up to 200 people. A railbus ticket costs 3,000 MNT. It employs 15 conductors, and has four mechanics who were educated in Russia for rail transportation mechanisms. A Russian mechanic was promoted to head mechanic of UB’s railbus in its first time of service.
To save the time of UB citizens and reduce traffic jams, the railbus’ average speed can reach 160 kilometers per hour, and its service from Tolgoit to Amgalan takes 47 minutes, and service from Amgalan to Tolgoit takes 45 minutes. The railbus passes through eight stations that have not been built yet. Ticket cost is determined by a passenger’s final destination. For instance, the railbus from the Ulaanbaatar Railway Station stops near Bars-2 Market, then stops near Tavan Shar before reaching Tolgoit Station. If a passenger’s destination is Bars-2 Market, a ticket costs 500 MNT. A ticket to Tavan Shar costs 1,000 MNT. A ticket to the last stop, Tolgoit Station, costs 3,000 MNT. Ulaanbaatar Railway hopes to ensure passenger safety and comfort by building pavement, street lights, direction signs and landscaping at the eight railbus stations. Ulaanbaatar Railway has been approved to build yards and noise barriers for the safety of the railway stations from Tolgoit to Amgalan.
Even though other countries developed their underground metro systems 100 years ago, Mongolia is behind, still relying on buses, microbuses, and taxis for the general transportation of the public. But the railbus brings a promising new development to the Mongolian transportation sector. Policies to develop the railbus are being discussed. One example is building a pair of rails so passengers can travel from one end of the railway to the other easily in a shorter amount of time.
People are moving their summer camps and the roads have become terrible during the weekends and weekdays. Thus, Urban Public Transport plans to offer services with big buses and microbuses for seven new routes in UB starting June 9. Big buses are scheduled for the following routes: Gunt-Jigjid-Tengis Cinema, Goodoi-Tengis Cinema, and Bayanbulag-Tengis Cinema. Microbuses routes are scheduled for Doloon Buudal to Maikhantolgoi-Yargaitiin bogino-Yargait-Khuurai Bogino every day. Adults pay 600 MNT and children pay 200 MNT for a ticket. According to the demands of residents represented by the Bayanzurkh 11th district committee about overlapping routes, bus number M:27, running from 5 Shar-Officers Palace-Urgakh Naran Town has been taken out of service. The route change was implemented on June 9.
Visitors and locals still have difficulty taking public buses to common destinations in the city or places far from downtown. First, from the center of the city, near Chingis Khaan Square, to Urguu Cinema 1, buses M:43, M:36, M:34, M:44, M:50, and T:5 are available. M:19 and M:45 run from the Central Library to Urguu Cinema 1. Buses serving Zaisan are the M:43, M:33, and M:55. If your destination is Narantuul Market, you can catch bus M:40. To reach 7 Buudal, catch bus number M:31 and M:3 are available. To get too 5 Shar, west of UB, catch bus number M:31, M:37, or M:17b.
There are special express buses traveling to the airport. They cost more than other buses, 2,000 MNT for adults and 1,000 MNT for children. The airport is 16 kilometers from UB. People pay approximately 13,000 MNT for a taxi to the airport. Through research conducted at Chinggis Khaan International Airport, 67 percent of people get to the airport using their own cars, and 23 percent take a taxi. The express buses offer a more economical option to travel to the airport. It leaves regularly from the Education University of Mongolia bus stop.
If you need more information about public transportation schedules, see transport.ub.gov.mn.

Short URL: http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=9961

Posted by The UB Post
on Jun 19 2014. Filed under Community.
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